Shan Yu
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| Shan Yu | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mulan (1998) |
| Created by | Robert D. San Souci |
| Voiced by | Miguel Ferrer (Mulan) Corey Burton (KHII) |
Shan Yu (or Shan-Yu, as he is sometimes called) is the villain of Disney's 1998 animated film Mulan. He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer in Mulan and Corey Burton in Kingdom Hearts II. Surprisingly, he is one of two Disney villains introduced in the 90s to not have his own theme, the other being Clayton from Tarzan.
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[edit] Mulan
In Mulan, Shan-Yu was the cruel leader of the Huns who was bent on conquering China, and so, with his Hun army, climbed over the Great Wall and invaded the land to prove his "superiority" to the Emperor. Shan Yu is probably loosely based on Modu Shanyu the Hun, though without much historical accuracy. Like his people, Shan Yu was trained on living off the Earth, possessing heightened senses and a falcon as his pet. Ruthless and cold hearted, Shan Yu killed without mercy, remorse and, on occasion, as a joke; he had one of his men execute one of the two Imperial scouts he let live to reveal that he intends to head toward the Imperial City. One such joke: "How many men does it take to deliver a message?" After asking this to his archer, the archer replies "one" before he executes the soldier.
Some time after General Li Shang's recruits completed their training, Shan-Yu's pet falcon acquired a doll from a village in the Tung Shao Pass. After close examination of it by his main men, Shan-Yu realized that the Imperial Army was waiting for them. Ambushing General Li's army, Shan-Yu wiped out the Emperor's best troops, including General Li, and set the village on fire. No known survivors were discovered by Captain Li Shang's troops (Captain Li Shang being the son of General Li Shang).
As they headed for the Imperial City, the Hun army ambushed Li Shang's troops in the Tung Shao Pass, casting flaming arrows from the mountains to disintegrate their ammunition. Shan-Yu then led his entire army to wipe out Li Shang's small battalion. Mulan, however, took control of Li Shang's last cannon, aiming it for a nearby mountain. This maneuver triggered an avalanche that wiped out almost all of Shan-Yu's army and encased Shan-Yu in a blanket of snow. At first, it seemed like a victory, thanks to Mulan.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. Following the avalanche and the leave-taking of Li Shang's troops, Shan-Yu rose from the snow, shaken and infuriated at the loss of his army. A loud yell of anger was all it took for Mulan to realize that there was still a chance for the Huns; Shan-Yu's pet falcon and five of his best troops, including his archer/executor, had survived the assault. With no one to stop him, Shan-Yu and his troops headed for the Imperial City with Mulan close behind.
While his troops hid within a Chinese Dragon at the Imperial celebration, Shan-Yu laid in wait on top of the roof of the Emperor's palace. At the right moment, Shan-Yu's falcon retrieved Shan-Yu's sword and his troops sprung into action, locking up the palace and kidnapping the Emperor. As Shan-Yu threatened the Emperor to bow to him, Mulan, Li Shang, Yao, Chein-Po, and Ling infiltrated the palace in an attempt to rescue the Emperor. After securing the Emperor, Mulan revealed to Shan-Yu that it was she who killed his entire army, not Li-Shang or a man, as he had expected. Pursuing her throughout the palace and onto the roof, Shan-Yu's attempt to kill Mulan backfired when Mulan initiated a plan of her own. Immobilizing Shan-Yu on the roof, she pinned him to the roof with his own sword while Mushu aimed a rocket at Shan-Yu. Releasing the rocket, Mushu, Mulan, and Crick-E escaped the roof as the Hun leader was pulled by the rocket into a munitions tower and killed in a brilliant explosion. Mulan was then awarded Shan-Yu's sword for her success at ridding China of the Huns forever.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts II
Shan Yu appears in Kingdom Hearts II as a villain in the Land of Dragons, a Mulan-based world. The game follows much of the movie's storyline, except for the fact that instead of having an army, he could summon Heartless. He traps Sora and Mulan in a cave full of Heartless, while he destroys the Imperial Army's village. When Sora, Mulan, Donald and Goofy, along with the Imperial army, appears at the summit, the scene plays like a similar mountain scene in the film. He then makes his way into the Emperor's castle, but is stopped by Sora, Mulan, and the others. He fights them, using dark energy to enhance his abilities and working alongside his attack falcon, Hayabusa, and a swarm of Heartless, but is killed after an intense battle.
Shan Yu only gets two line of dialogue, saying, "Now you'll bow to me" to the Emperor, and "Attack!" to his army of heartless on the mountain pass. He also says various things during the boss battle with him (the closest to being a dialogue is "Can you overpower me?"), however, for the rest of his appearances Shan Yu only growls, laughs, or screams. He tends to favor the Rapid Thruster Heartless, creating an army of them to attack Sora and friends on the mountain pass (in the movie it was his Hun army that attacked the heroes on the pass). During the boss battle he will send three Nightwalker Heartless to try and take down the door. This swarm of Heartless is resurrected when Sora fights a mysterious cloaked man that is later revealed as Riku on the same pass. He is the first Disney Villain that Sora and company fight in the game.
Shan Yu was not associated with Maleficent, Pete, or Organization XIII, making his boss fight very similar to the fight against Clayton on the first game.
[edit] Historical connections
Shan Yu is a character's personal name in Mulan and Kingdom Hearts II. This is similar to the historical Shanyu or Chanyu, which was the title used by the rulers of the Xiongnu, a nomadic Altaic people. As did the fictional Shan Yu in Mulan, the Xiongnu threatened China's northern border during the Han dynasty. Although Shan Yu is identified as a Hun in the film, there is some debate over the relationship between the Xiongnu and the Huns (see "Did the Xiongnu become the Huns").
[edit] External links
- Shan Yu in the Disney Archives-Villains
[edit] See Also
| Mulan | |
|---|---|
| Films | Mulan | Mulan II |
| Characters | Fa Mulan | Mushu | Li Shang | Shan Yu |
| Songs | "I'll Make a Man Out of You" | "Reflection" |
| Soundtracks | Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | Mulan II Soundtrack |
